The Jump

38 Home... Again

The hour-and-a-half drive from the city to Redwood Village was silent. Lucinda stared out the window while Raif squeezed tightly on the steering wheel, unsure what would happen once they got to her home. In the meantime, he tried to focus on the winding roads as the GPS guided them. The bustle of the city faded as they took the highway out, and skyscrapers turned into trees, and concrete became dirt with plant life. Each town they passed became smaller and smaller, and Raif marveled at the transition from city to wilderness-completely understanding why Lucinda would choose to live so far away from her former job.

Redwood Village may as well have been an Ansel Adams painting with its small stone bridges spreading across creeks and rivers. The main road seemed to have endless paths that turned off from the highway, leading to hidden places. One of those paths was Lucinda's as she finally spoke up and instructed Raif to pull off onto a dirt road. They drove down it for a few minutes until it became a fork, and she told him to turn down another small path that snaked its way into Lucinda's driveway.

When he parked the car, he lowered his sunglasses and stared at the cottage at the end of the driveway. A chimney made of stacked cobblestone was nestled against the rich redwood exterior of the home, and a slate pathway stretched to the front steps where tiny purple flowers bordered it. On the porch was a pile of chopped wood, and to the side of it, a black iron table with two matching seats, waiting for company. Loose dry leaves littered the yard like confetti, adding red and orange shades to the brown grass. Everything was picture perfect, as if it belonged on a postcard.

"Your home is beautiful," Raif said.

"Thanks." Lucinda opened the car door and slid out.

"Wait a sec!" Raif exclaimed, and hopped out to rush to her side, but when he got there, she was already out. "I could've helped you."

"I'm fine, Raif," she replied without looking at him and made her way to the front porch. "I'm not some fragile thing just because I'm pregnant."

"I didn't mean it that way. I know you're not. I just want to be here for you."

"Why?" Lucinda turned, bumping into his chest and putting her hands up with a wince.

"What do you mean, why?"

"Why did you come here? Why did you have to look for me?" She glared, her shaking. "I left. Now you can go and be a happy family with Rachel and Gavin. Just forget about me, ok? I'll be fine."

Turned back around, she jogged uo the steps and unlocked the door to head into the house headed, but Raif wasn't going to make it so easy for her. So he marched in after her, and was right on her heels as she walked past the entry table in the foyer, but then he halted, his breath catching in his throat. Items were strewn all over the floor, and the mirror above the entry table was cracked. An image flashed through his mind of Aaron smashing Lucinda's head into the mirror, and his blood broiled at the thought.

Lucinda proceeded into the living room, where she shrugged off her windbreaker and glanced over her shoulder. "Why are you still here? Please leave. Go back to your family."

"NO," Raif said firmly. "I'm not going anywhere without you, so quit with this cold-hearted act. That's not who you are, and you suck at it."

"Excuse me?" She whipped around.

"You heard me," Raif replied. "I'm not buying this 'you're done with me' crap. I don't know if, on the drive over here, you decided to push me away, but I'm not letting that happen!" He stepped forward, shortening the distance between them, and Lucinda raised her chin defiantly. "I am in love with you, and now we're having a child together, so go ahead, keep this stubborn act up. I don't mind, and I'll still be right here no matter what," he said, pointing to the floor, "I'm not going anywhere."